


Just a Thief

by LittleLadyBigDreamer



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Gen, Librariansshipathon, Sorry it's late anon, Sucky summary I'm sorry, Tumblr Prompt, jenzekiel - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 14:03:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7895440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleLadyBigDreamer/pseuds/LittleLadyBigDreamer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a mission goes wrong one particular Librarian feels the failure of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just a Thief

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the anon on Tumblr who so kindly dropped me an ask, it's a little late because life chaos so I'm sorry. I had the outline for this story and then Jenkins kinda took over so I hope you like it :)

The back door flashed a stunning sapphire and three Librarians came stumbling through it with their Guardian in tow. 

"And _that_  is why we always stick to the plan," Eve was the first to speak as they all attempted to regain their balance. 

"Man, I cannot _believe_  we were so close to getting into that room," Jake said _,_ slight bitterness on his tongue. "You knew how important this job was Jones, you literally had one thing to do!"

"We really did need you Ezekiel," Cassandra said in a near whisper. 

"We should've just taken Flynn, I told you we should've taken Flynn," Jake muttered to Eve who was now rubbing her temple. 

"Didn't we learn a while back how important it is for us to work as a team?" Cassandra said to Ezekiel who was stood with his back to the rest, hands in his pockets, face hiding the look of guilt he was wearing. "I get what you mean now Eve," she turned around to look at the Guardian. 

"Thank you!" Eve cried appreciatively, sweeping her hands through the air animatedly. 

"Seriously Jones, what were you thinkin'? There could have been hundreds of years of world history in that room and we'll never know, not for a long time anyway. Do you know how rare it is for small places like that to have such large events?!" Jake's voice grew louder.

Something in his tone made Ezekiel snap and he suddenly spun around and shouted, "Well you wouldn't have even gotten into the place if I hadn't got you on the list and forged your tickets! And why is deciding who goes on missions your call? The last time I checked we all had clippings books, we're all Librarians!"

"Yeah well I didn't see a Librarian in that place tonight I saw a thief!" Jake spat, looking like he instantly regretted his words despite the blazing fury in his eyes. Ezekiel looked slightly taken aback but quickly regained his composure, said nothing and simply turned on his heels and left the room.

"Little harsh guys," Eve was the first to speak after his departure. 

"I- I didn't mean..." Jake muttered before tutting and walking off to the upper level of the Annex.

"What exactly happened today?" asked Flynn, coming up to Eve and slipping an arm around her waist. Both he and Jenkins had been watching the exchange since the four had returned from their apparently failed mission. Both had chosen to remain silent as the tension rose. 

"He was supposed to be setting off one of the alarms to distract the guards so we could get to the secret entrance to the room but instead _he_  got distracted by a string of pearls around some woman's neck," she explained. "After that all the timings went wrong and our plans got messed up." She stared sorrowfully at the path the young Librarian had taken to the main Library. "He's already mad at himself and now he's going to feel worse," she added.

"He didn't _look_ that mad," Flynn winced as he spoke.

"Well he is!" Eve insisted.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"I just do," she said firmly, not knowing whether to go after him or not. 

* * *

Not long later, with Jake and Cassandra having scattered about the Annex, and Eve and Flynn sitting at their desk exchanging tales of their days, Jenkins quietly slipped out of the main room and into the Library. He made his way down the great white staircase, each step amplified by the Library's vastness, then walked slowly down the aisles, making a few turns as he went. He stopped when he arrived at one of the reading areas scattered between the bookcases. Two armchairs and a long couch encircled a small coffee table, upon which there numerous books. A pair of legs hung over the arm of the chair closest to him and a small red ball seemed to be rising up and down from it.  

"I had a bet on Baird being the first one to follow me," Ezekiel's voice came from behind the armchair. "Apparently she's one person who can still surprise me. Or did she send you?"

"What makes you think Colonel Baird has any influence over what I do?" Jenkins replied. "I may be _a lot_  older than the rest of you Mr Jones, but I assure you I am perfectly sane of mind and my actions are my own."

"So you're not going to have one of your secret chats with Baird after this?" Ezekiel leaned forward and eyed him suspiciously, the ball now in securely in his left hand.

"How do you kn- nevermind," Jenkins shook his head with a small frown. "I merely came to inquire about your wellbeing. In my opinion, your fellow Librarians reprimanded you a little severely."

"Me and my wellbeing are fine," the younger man replied with nonchalance. "Besides like I haven't heard worse," he gave a little shrug. "But Stone's right, I'm just a thief. That's what they all think, that's what they'll always think."

"You are not just a thief, you are a Librarian," Jenkins stated firmly.

"Uh yeah, and why exactly did the Library recruit me?" Ezekiel's brows rose as he spoke. "Because I can steal things."

"Colonel Baird can fire a gun, that's not why the Library recruited her. She was chosen because she can protect. She is swift and strong, she will protect those in her care to her last breath if need be, but more than that, she cares. Her weapon is merely a tool that she has the ability to use if the situation requires it. You have the ability to take things from people without their noticing it, but you were chosen because like the others you are one of the smartest in your field. You can work modern technology like no other, you can understand security systems and allow yourself and your colleagues to gain entry into places they'd never be invited to otherwise. You too are swift and agile, you're extremely focused on your work and when all is said and done you will help those you care about." Ezekiel opened his mouth to cut in but Jenkins continued, raising a hand. "No matter how much you protest otherwise," he added. "Mr Jones, the business of the Library is secrecy. You, better than any of the others have the skills to ensure that secrecy remains. You are more of an asset to this establishment than you realise."

Ezekiel's gaze remained on the caretaker for a while. He seemed, in a rare moment, to be serious, as though he were taking in every word the older man had said. "Are you sure Baird didn't write that little speech for you?" he finally said.

Jenkins rolled his eyes. "I am aware that the Colonel is the one known for her 'pep talks' but I do have my moments," he replied, rather agitatedly, much to Ezekiel's amusement. 

"Alright, alright," he held his hands up in surrender. "Just asking. But uh...thanks Jenkins, that's pretty cool of you to say." Jenkins gave an appreciative nod. "But I still messed up today."

"We all 'mess up' bu- actually, come with me," he gestured for Ezekiel to follow him then turned and began walking back down the aisles. 

"Wh- uh...okay," Ezekiel blinked, swinging his legs off the chair and immediately going after the caretaker. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," Jenkins simply replied. 

 

Ezekiel followed Jenkins down numerous aisles until they reached one of the far ends of the Library. "This is just another hallway," he said, coming to a halt when the caretaker did. "Is this like one of those coping methods? Where you get me to just walk around until I feel calm again?" he questioned.

Jenkins gave a small sigh, his shoulders dropping evidently. "Will you just be quiet for one moment?" he directed at the young Librarian. 

"Rude, actually," Ezekiel retorted. 

"You may have noticed the walls of the Library are lined with paintings of certain individuals, including Mr Carsen" Jenkins began, ignoring Ezekiel's remark. "Each painting depicts the Librarian after the success of his or her first mission. But just because these missions ended successfully does not mean they began that way, nor does it mean every mission thereafter was successful. "John Dudley," he pointed to the image beside them. "Librarian between 1569 and 1573. Snuck into a ball held by Queen Elizabeth during the summer of 1570, was so excited by the prospect of it all that he had way too much to drink and passed out by the middle of the evening, thus completely abandoning his mission. Woke up in the morning in a bush surrounding the castle with a goat nibbling at his ear apparently." Ezekiel screwed up his face in response, half unimpressed, half grossed out. They walked down the aisle for another minute or so until Jenkins stopped once more. "Here we have Roxanna Stoletti, arrived at the Library in 1863 after the previous Librarian met her a few months prior. She hung around him, claiming to be able to do the job better and apparently the Library agreed since she was given the job straight after him. It went well, she lasted about five years until she went to Papua New Guinea and literally slipped on a banana peel. She became quite strange after that," he said, tilting his head to the side as though he were recalling a distinct memory. Shaking his head after a moment, he turned away and this time strolled down the aisle for another five minutes before turning the corner and bringing them back towards what Ezekiel now recognised as nearby the entrance of the Library. "This is Thomas Glass," Jenkins informed Ezekiel, with slight disdain. "He was around the 20s, the 1920s I should add. Very brilliant Librarian with all the potential one would hope a Librarian had. He had however, a weakness for women. He was at a speakeasy in Chicago trying to retrieve a ruby rumoured to belong to Venus which was stolen by an ancestor of one of the mob bosses, and we have to credit him because he _did_  retrieve his artifact. However, he was a little cocky about it and hung around a little longer, enjoying both the alcohol and the company, and subsequently became a little distracted by one of the women paying him attention." He turned to look at Ezekiel.  "He woke up the next morning expecting said woman to be by his side in his hotel room, only she was gone, as was the ruby. We didn't get it back until three Librarians later."

"Rookie mistake dude," Ezekiel muttered to the picture, shaking his head. 

Jenkins meanwhile had swivelled on his heels and was now looking up at the tall, almost stern looking man in the picture on the next wall. "Edward Wilde," he announced. "One of our most unfortunate."

Ezekiel leaned forwards and squinted a look at the dates below the image. "This guy was the Librarian before Flynn?" he asked.

"Indeed. You don't know about him?" Ezekiel shook his head in reply. "Wilde was extremely egotistical and arrogant, neither a good combination with extraordinary intelligence. He had a thirst for power and eventually that thirst got the better of him. He faked his own death and became the leader of the Serpent Brotherhood."

"What?!" Ezekiel exclaimed, horror on his face.

"Not only that, he then used the information he'd gained from being the Librarian to find all the pieces of the Spear of Destiny, holding hostage Mr Carsen and his Guardian at the time, then attempted to become the sole controller of the destiny of the world," Jenkins continued to explain. 

"Hold on, so Flynn fought the Librarian before him?" Ezekiel asked wide eyed. 

"On his first mission, yes," Jenkins nodded. "But that's not the point. The point is that Librarians mess up. They get things wrong. To be honest, that's probably why we go through them so easily-"

"That's comforting," Ezekiel muttered.

"But they are at the end of the day, human. Sometimes we make mistakes, but we have to learn from them and that is how we grow. You may have made an error today Mr Jones but I presume you will not make the same again, yes?"

"Yeah," Ezekiel nodded.

"Well then the Library has taught you something. That is its purpose after all, to encourage as well as preserve knowledge," he said with insistence. "Now, do you understand what I've been trying to say?" 

"I think so," Ezekiel replied. 

"Good, now run along and make up with your friends so I can go back to working in a less tense environment," he instructed before heading for the staircase again. 

Ezekiel blinked after him, watching him go with a slight grin. "Hey Jenkins," he called out. The caretaker glanced over his shoulder. "You're really cool you know that?" 

"I know," he simply replied before ascending the staircase, Ezekiel running to catch him up. 

**Author's Note:**

> Anything and everything is appreciated :) x


End file.
